Low salaries deprive staff at public schools of the appropriate monetary compensation for their hard work, leaving those most crucial to America’s future struggling financially.
Increasing worker’s salaries across Virginia would be a good start, as would investing more in the education system. However, garnering enough support from government officials to act in the best interest of administrators will always prove difficult unless society recognizes these vital employees for their true worth.
Virginia’s public school workers work ten months per year teaching students the critical knowledge they need to succeed after graduation. Due to the sometimes limited supplies available to teachers, some use their personal funds to cover these shortcomings and improve student’s learning experience.
“I spend about $250 annually,” Adams said.
Throughout the school year, teachers spend time teaching, lesson planning and grading assignments, and the often overlooked janitorial staff cleans and sanitizes the school despite careless teenagers. Also vital to the school experience, nurses must be ready at all times to administer first aid to students in need, and security guards have the dangerous task of ensuring protection from both internal and external dangers.
Without dedicated staff promoting a safe and positive learning environment, America’s youth will suffer.
For all of their hard work and dedication, school employees receive low salaries. In Virginia Beach City Public Schools, teachers are paid on a formulaic pay scale, found on the school system’s website.
For a first-year hire with no credible experience beforehand, the annual pay is $54,065. This figure is $20,000 below the state average, which is $74,120 according to Study.com. Similarly, the average pay for a member of the janitorial staff is $16 an hour throughout the school system, one dollar below the $17 an hour state average, per ZipRecruiter. Adversely, school nurses employed by the public school system make over $1 an hour more than the state average, according to Indeed, while security guards have an extremely inconsistent pay ranging from minimum wage to $32 an hour, according to ZipRecruiter.
Salaries across the city must be increased for staff as doing so improves retention and attracts new employees.
So the next time a school day begins, do everything possible to make the school a little bit better. And when it comes time to vote in the next election cycle, choose those with promises to support the nation’s most underappreciated workers.
